A few winters ago, in a moment of whimsy, I changed the color of my family’s rainbow cookies. Instead of the traditional red, white, and green layers found in Italian bakery cases everywhere, I made two batches: one layered red-white-red and one green-white-green. The colors really popped that year, owing to my mother-in-law’s excellent suggestion to replace my usual food coloring with Americolor gel paste. I nestled the cookies into their usual snowflake-covered tins and packed them amidst all the other holiday cookies in preparation for the ten-hour drive east.
Confronted with the double batch of their favorite holiday cookies, my parents and siblings were…displeased. Their coup included carefully deconstructing their cookies and reassembling them in green-white-red layers I’d made for the last two decades, and which my grandmother had made for many decades before that.So imagine the response I received last year when I made Bon Appetit’s recipe for Ombre cookies. The 1-star review average, coupled with the comments on the feature article, suggest my family members are not the only cookie purists out there:
“I know rainbow cookies. These are no rainbow cookies.”
“…a classic cookie never changes its stripes.”
“…I beg to disagree. THESE are not rainbow cookies.”

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine butter, sugar, almond paste, oil, and salt. (Reserve the butter wrappers for Step 3.) Beat on high speed for 5 minutes, or until mixture is light and fluffy.

While the butter mixture beats, prepare three 13x9 baking pans. Using the butter wrappers, grease the pans. Then line each pan with wax paper or parchment paper.

With the mixer on high, add eggs one at a time, then beat for 5 minutes, or until mixture is light yellow in color and fluffy. Add almond extract. Reduce speed to low and gradually add flour. Mix just until combined.

Divide batter evenly among the mixer and two bowls, about 500 grams in each. Add food coloring to each bowl to produce whichever colors you desire (use red, uncolored, and green for the traditionalists, but use your imagination for more flexible audiences). Pour the contents of each bowl into its own prepared baking pan, and use an icing spatula to spread the dough into even layers.

Bake until centers spring back when pressed, about 15 minutes. A basic rule of thumb: watch the lightest colored layer. When it begins to brown, the cakes are done. Cool pans thoroughly, at least two hours, to prevent sticking.

Heat apricot preserves on the stove and strain out large pieces of fruit. (Save the strained bits, which taste delicious on scones or baked into rugelach.)

Cover a cutting board or other steady surface with aluminum foil, then wax paper. This makes an easy surface to work on later when you're ready to cut the finished cakes. Then flip over whichever color layer you want to be on the bottom of the cake onto the foil-covered board. Spread half of the preserves over the bottom layer to edges. Spread half of the strained preserves on top. Slide next layer on top of bottom layer. (Flexible cutting sheets will make this easier). Spread remaining half of strained preserves on top. Slide final layer onto cake. Cover top of cake with wax paper, then whole cake with plastic wrap. Weigh down with heavy cookbooks and refrigerate overnight.

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or a cezve and pour over top of cake. Allow to dry for approximately 1 hour. The cookies will cut much more easily if the chocolate is not completely hardened, so try not to wait too long.

Cut the cake into 1" squares. It is easiest to cut one long strip off of each side of the cake and then save those outer bits for snacking. Cut the remaining "clean" cake into 10 strips width-wise and then cut each strip into 8 pieces. The chocolate will cut more easily if you turn each strip of cake on its side first.

Yield: approximately 80 pieces, 80 calories per piece. The side pieces, of course, are the baker's portion, and are calorie-free.

Gluten-free, corn-free Taco Salad

Our family has been through one heck of a year! I was diagnosed with chronic illness last summer, and I’ve had a quick progression, with my husband taking up all of my slack at times. Mom’s style of cooking and Dad’s style of cooking vary greatly, but when I’m exhausted or unable to help, and he’s just home from work, there are a few easy “go-to’s” we’ve come up with to help us get everyone fed, sneak in the token veggies, and call it a day! Did I mention we have food allergies? Meals in our house have to meet our allergy retrictions, not take a lot of prep to cook, and satisfy picky eaters.

One of our masterpieces is the Gluten-free, Corn-free, “Dairy-free if You Need it to Be” Taco Salad:

--1/2 pound ground beef, browned and crumbled (optional: onions, garlic chopped and sauteed with the meat. Precooked beans and rice to add to meat--I cook large batches ahead and keep frozen in zip-lock bags) --1/2 tsp chili powder(or to taste)--add to meat as it cooks --sea salt to taste --Half to full "clamshell" organic greens (depending on your familiy's willingness to eat greens) Even our picky eaters will usually eat taco salad with organic spring mix or shredded Romaine. (I always use Organic, triple-washed for better health and less work. They can be found at Costco and most chain grocery stores.) --Baked or regular kettle chips or Beanitos/Beanfields brand tortilla chips, or corn chips if you eat corn. (Kettle brand chips are lower in hydrogenated oils than regular potato chips, but tortilla chips, including Beanitos and Beanfields are by far the best texture, and share the low-oil factor) --Natural salsa, to taste (in a pinch we use natural ketchup or tomato sauce with some extra salt and spices) --Natural sour cream or sour cream substitute, to taste. Our favorite is Nancy's brand. Plain yogurt and Greek yogurt work, too. ----Rice cheese shreds (optional, or replace with shredded cheese if tolerated) Avocados for garnish (optional, but very tasty & healthy, and a good "green" food to sneak in) Putting it together (Mom's method): Mix cheese with cooked ground beef, allow to cool slightly, toss with greens and serve over chips or crumble chips into salad . Garnish with salsa, sour cream (optional) any other garnishes desired, and serve. Dad's method: Mix it all together and eat it with a spoon.

--1/2 tsp chili powder(or to taste)--add to meat as it cooks --sea salt to taste --Half to full "clamshell" organic greens (depending on your familiy's willingness to eat greens)

Even our picky eaters will usually eat taco salad with organic spring mix or shredded Romaine. (I always use Organic, triple-washed for better health and less work. They can be found at Costco and most chain grocery stores.)

--Baked or regular kettle chips or Beanitos/Beanfields brand tortilla chips, or corn chips if you eat corn. (Kettle brand chips are lower in hydrogenated oils than regular potato chips, but tortilla chips, including Beanitos and Beanfields are by far the best texture, and share the low-oil factor)

--Natural salsa, to taste (in a pinch we use natural ketchup or tomato sauce with some extra salt and spices)

----Rice cheese shreds (optional, or replace with shredded cheese if tolerated) Avocados for garnish (optional, but very tasty & healthy, and a good "green" food to sneak in) Putting it together (Mom's method): Mix cheese with cooked ground beef, allow to cool slightly, toss with greens and serve over chips or crumble chips into salad .

Instructions

Garnish with salsa, sour cream (optional) any other garnishes desired, and serve. Dad's method: Mix it all together and eat it with a spoon.

I have a new found obsession: cookie dough. But not the real stuff, “faux dough.” I found the recipe on a beat up page that I ripped from a parenting magazine years ago. “Why did I never make this before?” I asked myself as I stood at the refrigerator with the doors open spooning it into my mouth.

The answer was, because I didn’t have to. You see I recently found out that I am sensitive to gluten. Awesome. Just the news everyone wants to hear. With that comes the realization that many of my favorite comfort foods and sweets – like cookie dough –are out the door! Mac n’ cheese? Adios! My Husband’s favorite chocolate chip birthday cake? Not this year. A cupcake at the office party? “No thanks, I can’t”- literally. Cookie dough ice cream? Nope, I will take vanilla bean instead.

I have a bad sweet tooth, but I also consider myself a health nut and always looking for better ways to have the food I love, and make healthy food appetizing for my two kids. And this recipe is a homerun! I did modify it to replace the original recipe which called for brown sugar with coconut sugar and honey. And the best part is… it’s super quick to make and the kids are eating beans! Shhh…

I made White Pie this week for my dad’s birthday. I wasn’t with him to celebrate. In fact, he lives 266 miles from me and I don’t remember the last time we celebrated his birthday together, but every year I make a lasagna and a White Pie for his birthday just like my mom is doing in her kitchen 266 miles away. (You’ve probably never heard of White Pie. I’ve never known anyone outside my own family to make it either but it is a white, sugary confection that is my dad’s favorite.)

It’s funny— the way food connects us to family. The way a certain taste, the smell of spaghetti on the stove, or the sight of strawberries in a bowl on the table can take me back 20 years to my grandmothers’ kitchens. The way a turkey sandwich in the summer reminds me of days sitting on beach with my family and playing endless Spades tournaments.

I may live away from my family today, but in the lonely, homesick moments I pull out the cookbooks ﬁlled with our family favorites and I go back home.

I pop corn on the stovetop and over salt it just a little so I can tell my girls, “This is the way your Great Papa Sandifer used to make popcorn and he’d put a quilt in the yard so we could look at the stars while we ate it. I wish he knew the two of you! He would pull you into his lap and tickle your legs. He would hide Easter eggs you would still be looking for the following year. And you can NEVER put food in tupperware containers that look like this because they will always remind you of Papa’s tobacco-spit cups.”

I sneak carrots into my spaghetti sauce, not because it’s a great little trick to ensure my girls eat their veggies, but because my Mimi made her sauce that way and I have never had another plate that tasted or smelled like hers. When I smell that spaghetti cooking I feel my heart break just a little and tears slip down my cheeks as I mourn the loss of my conﬁdante, knowing she and I will never sit in her recliners having deep conversations about school, relationships, and the latest Reader’s Digest feature story. My girls will know her but not the way I did. They will never experience the rich joy she took in her children and great-grandchildren. But they can taste her spaghetti and vegetable soup, and we can toast saltine crackers with peanut butter and giant marshmallows for snack and they can catch a glimpse of what she gave to me.

I ﬁx bowls of ice cream and laugh as I remind my girls not mistake ketchup for strawberry syrup like their Old Papa. We giggle as my toddler reminds me for the 752nd time that he spilled his water all in his plate on our last visit and it ﬁlls me with joy when she looks at me and says, “Mama, I want go to Old Papa’s howzzzz.” Me too, honey. Me too.

I pick up Nonna before we head to the strawberry patch because fresh strawberries will always remind me of her garden and the bowl of powdered sugar sitting on the Lazy Susan just in case hungry grandkids wanted to taste the treasures they plucked from her garden. I set strips of ﬂowery dough on the kitchen table for my girls to practice rolling out while Nonna sits on the other end of the phone talking me through each step so I can be sure my Chicken and Dumplings taste just like hers. (And all you people that eat Red Velvet with Cream Cheese icing? You’re crazy! Buttercream is the way to go!)

At the Farmer’s Market I skip the shelled peas and go for the ones in the hull, smiling to myself as I run by Publix for a paper sack and remember so many days walking into the homes of my grandparents and being told to “grab a bowl and a sack and come shell with me”. The irritated, black thumbnails were worth every conversation.

I search junk sales for cheap, ﬂimsy, old cookie sheets because they are the only kind you can use to bake my mama’s Chocolate Chip Cookies (And you absolutely must blend your oatmeal in a blender. The food processor just won’t get it right.) that I will serve you on my great-grandmother’s dishes.

So many tastes, smells, and ingredients to connect me to my family and take me home. To remind me of stories told around the table, of holidays together, and love that has never wavered. So many recipes to pass to my own girls, memories to create, and a table that is beaten and scarred, covered in glitter and paint specs, and looks so small to me but will be remembered as so big in the minds of my girls.

Bake crusts according to package instructions. Mix sugar and cream cheese. Prepare Dream Whip according to box instructions and add ﬂavorings. Combine cheese mixture with Dream Whip mixture. Mix well and pour evenly into pie crust. Chill for one hour or until mixture is ﬁrm.

I just love baking with my daughter. As soon as she could stir a spoon, a chair has always been dragged over to my kitchen counter, her tiny frame poised over the large mixing bowl. Cooking with kids is such a great experience – not only does it create food to be consumed, but it engages children and allows them to get hands-on with their grub. Yes, it’s messy, and my daughter has dropped an egg or two, but the pros far outweigh the cons and we get some mommy and me bonding time.

Today was the perfect setting. Fat snowflakes and howling winds made the ideal backdrop for baking. My adaptation of a recipe from Myra Goodman’s Food to Live By is a foolproof baking adventure for those snowy, cold afternoons when you just don’t want to go out. These yummy muffins pair the sweet flavor of mashed bananas with pure maple syrup and a touch of brown sugar. The whole wheat flour and flax add fiber and omega-3s and the oil makes them moist and not too heavy. Team one up with a glass of milk or a cup of hot tea and these muffins make a superb snowy afternoon snack!

They contain no butter (a saturated fat), but rather sunflower oil, which is an unsaturated fat and better for your heart health (plus the oil makes the muffins moist and prevents the development of gluten in the flour!)

They contain whole wheat flour, rather than bleached white flour. Whole wheat flour has more fiber than its refined white counterpart

They rely on the bananas and maple syrup for sweetness (along with a bit of brown sugar) rather than refined, processed white sugar (maple syrup also has a lower glycemic index than white sugar and even contains a few nutrients and antioxidants!)

They contain milled flax seeds which are a rich source of micronutrients, dietary fibre, manganese, vitamin B1 and the essential fatty acid known as omega-3

PLEASE NOTE: I am not trying to condone muffin-consumption here, but this yummy home-made version contains a few beneficial ingredients and kids love them (not just mine)! My daughters prefer the mini-muffin version which are perfect for little hands,and we throw in mini-chocolate chips too (chopped walnuts are another great addition).

With a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, lightly fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients (a little bit at a time) just until combined and the batter is thick and chunky.This is a crucial step that I messed up on many times until my mom demonstrated the proper 'folding technique'. Check out this YouTube clip to see how it is done. The important thing is not to overmix the batter. If you stir it until smooth, it will be overmixed and the batter will yield tough, rubbery muffins

Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tins and fill just to the top of each tin

Bake for about 15 minutes for mini muffins or about 18 -20 minutes for regular size. Usea cake tester or toothpick and insert in the centre of muffin. If the tester/toothpick comes out clean, your muffins are done! Place cooked muffins on a wire rack or plate to cool for a few minutes

(double recipe because inevitably if you are making it someone else in your house is bound to get sick too and it’s nice to just have a big old pot of soup to get through a few dinners)

Author: Elke Goversten

Recipe type: Soup

Ingredients

1 package turkey sausage

1 package pork sausage

Fresh oregano

2 boxes chicken stock

2 jars marinara sauce

3 zucchinis

1 sweet onion

4 cloves garlic

6 dill pickles (this is the “secret ingredient” that intrigues the kids and makes them keep eating it while they guess the first time)

Instructions

Dice onion. Add to stock pot. Sauté until clear. Add garlic and sausages, cook until browned. Dice pickles as tiny as you can get them. Add pickles and oregano (to taste) to the sausage. Simmer. Let it get cozy.

Chop zucchini and add to meat. Let it get soft but not mushy. Add chicken stock and marinara. Let simmer.